Building Customer Satisfaction

Building Customer Satisfaction

Building Customer Satisfaction

There are many elements in a service environment that contribute to a customer-centric atmosphere. One of the key components for building customer satisfaction is sound interpersonal communication. Effective verbal, nonverbal and written communication with customers is simple and inexpensive ways to ultimately gain customer loyalty.

Simply put, you must be able to articulate or clearly explain (verbally and in writing) information in a manner that customers can comprehend and act upon. Otherwise, they will not believe in you or your organization. To that end, you must provide more than facts and figures; you must send a message of sincerity, knowledge, and honesty during each encounter. Never forget that customer-provider relationships are based on personal interactions, not on policy and procedures.

As you communicate with your customers, project your feelings and emotions by being positive and enthusiastic. Let customers know that you are human and approachable. Also, communicate frequently and keep your customers informed. This is especially important when a problem has occurred or they are awaiting a product or service that has been delayed. In such instances, you must update them regularly. Failure to do that can lead to frustration and a belief that you are lying or trying to hide something from them. The result of such perceptions could be that they might cancel their order, complain, or take their business elsewhere. They are also likely to tell others about their disappointing experience in person or via social media.

Building customer satisfaction is not that difficult. It is to your advantage to continually upgrade your knowledge and skills in order to build or hone your communication skills. By doing so, you can better ensure that the message you intend always reaches your customers. Check with your organization’s training department for classes or resources they might offer. If those resources are not available, do an Internet search for podcasts, webinars, book articles, blogs and other free sources of information or training. For example, YouTube has an assortment of video segments on various customer service skills and communication topics. There are also several books on customer service available at http://www.robertwlucas.com/books-by-robert-w-lucas/.

Encouraging Customer Loyalty Can Result in Increased Customer Retention

Encouraging Customer Loyalty Can Result in Increased Customer Retention

Encouraging Customer Loyalty

Can Result in Increased Customer Retention

If you are a customer service representative, one of your key roles is to help create a customer-centric environment designed to identify and meet customer expectations. To accomplish this, you must ensure that you continue to enhance your knowledge of the organization’s products and services. You must also continually hone your customer service skills in order to communicate, negotiate, and serve customers while you deliver excellent customer service.

To get hundreds of ideas and strategies on how to create a positive customer service environment that can aid in achieving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

Brand and Customer Loyalty Is Earned Not Given Freely

Brand and Customer Loyalty Is Earned Not Given Freely

Brand and Customer Loyalty Is Earned Not Given Freely

Consumer behavior and spending habits, customer needs, wants and expectations and customer satisfaction levels change constantly. There can be wide differences in the way that customers perceive an item or event when seeking services and products depending on diversity factors, such as, age, gender, race, ethnic background, and other individual factors.

A key to developing brand or customer loyalty is to hone and upgrade your customer service skills and product knowledge regularly as a customer service representative in order to increase satisfaction and customer retention. By providing excellent customer service, you help ensure continued business and positive word-of-mouth publicity.

One simple strategy to work on is to develop solid customer relations skills (e.g. verbal and non-verbal communication, dealing with diverse customers, and handling service breakdowns and conflict).

For hundreds of ideas on how to create and maintain a customer service environment that allows customers to feel comfortable and enjoy their customer-provider interactions, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.

Customer Relations Quote – John Russell

Customer Relations Quote - John Russell

Customer Relations Quote – John Russell

Positive customer relations are priceless when it comes to creating customer satisfaction. Everyone in an organization should be focused on build sound customer relationships in order to create customer and brand loyalty, generate positive word-of-mouth publicity, meet customer needs, wants and expectations, and ultimately overcome competition in today’s global marketplace.

“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought unsolvable.”
-John Russell

“The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.” – John Russell, President at Harley Davidson

For ideas, strategies and techniques for building stronger customer relationships with your customers, get a copy of my books Customer Service Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

 

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management

When organizations attain a high degree of brand recognition and a reputation for providing quality products and services at a competitive price while going above and beyond their customers’ expectations, they are typically rewarded with customer loyalty and repeat and referral business.

According to a J.D. Powers and Associates North American Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, “The highest-performing hotel brands differentiate themselves by meeting customer expectations consistently, whether it’s a guest’s first stay with the brand or they’re fiftieth. . . . By setting and maintaining high brand standards, hotels build a reputation for reliability, which breeds customer loyalty.”

Extracted from Customer Service Skills for Success by Robert W. Lucas, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2015.

About Robert C. Lucas – Award-Winning Author

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

What is Great Customer Service?

What is Great Customer Service?

What is Great Customer Service?

What is great customer service? This is a question often asked in my customer service workshops and by people trying to determine how to get the best value for their money when searching out businesses where they might spend it. Unfortunately, this is a very subjective question based on the person asking. Since each individual has differing needs, wants and expectations based on their experiences and perceptions; what is excellent customer service to one person might only be considered good customer service to another.

In my opinion, in order for organizations to provide great customer service consistently, they must provide ongoing customer service training to their staff. In addition, customer service representatives must demonstrate at least the following qualities to earn trust, business, and customer or brand loyalty.

  • Excellent customer service skills;
  • Positive verbal and non-verbal communication skills;
  • Positive employee attitude;
  • Appreciation for customers;
  • Friendliness and a true interest in people;
  • Honesty;
  • Trustworthiness;
  • Demonstrate Integrity;
  • Have sound business acumen;
  • Possess solid product and service knowledge.

If you are looking for ideas and strategies on creating a positive customer-centric service environment in which customers feel appreciated, get copies of my books Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and Customer Service Skills for Success.

About Robert C. Lucas and why he can answer the question – what is great customer service?

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Customer Service Quote – Michael LeBoeuf

Customer Service Quote – Michael LeBoeuf

Customer Service Quote - Michael LeBoeuf

Organizations and customer service representatives that go out of their way to identify customer needs, wants and expectations, have a better chance of increasing brand and customer loyalty than competitors who do not.

By working hard to create a customer-centric organization, businesses increase the likelihood that customers will return and tell others about their positive service experiences.

For proven customer service ideas and strategies for building a strong service culture and delivering stellar customer service in your organization, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

In my book Customer Service Skills for Success, I define customer service as “the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.”

Here are a few more quotes from Michael LaBoeuf…

  1. A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.
  2. The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. What you perceive in this world is largely a reflection of your own attitudes and beliefs. Life will give you what you attract with your thoughts think, act and talk negatively and your world will be negative. Think and act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results.
  3. Every company’s greatest assets are its customers because without customers there is no company.
  4. The greatest management principle in the world is: ‘the things that get rewarded and appreciated get done.’
  5. All of us live at the feeling level, and our feelings are in large part a result of the way we perceive things. You observe or are told something, you interpret it, and only then do you have a reaction at the feeling level. The point is that feeling is preceded by perception, and all of us are capable of controlling our interpretation [the associations and assumptions] of what we see. If we can control our interpretation, then it logically follows that we can exercise some control over our feelings as well.
  6. The most important key to successful investing can be summed up in just two words-asset allocations.
  7. When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.
  8. Too many start-up business fail simply because their owners continue to think and act like employees.
  9. The ultimate goal of a more effective and efficient life is to provide you with enough time to enjoy some of it.
  10. It’s important for you to understand that stock and bonds go up-and they go down. You need to be comfortable with that fact.
  11. As for worrying about what other people might think – forget it. They aren’t concerned about yours. They’re too busy worrying about what you and other people think of theirs.
  12. We talk about saving time and killing time when actually we can’t do either. We have no choice but to spend it at a constant and flowing rate.
  13. The things that get rewarded, get done
  14. Knowing nothing about investing might be a benefit. You won’t have to unlearn many popular beliefs propagated by Wall Street and the media that aren’t true.
  15. Index investing is an investment strategy that Walter Mitty would love. It takes very little investment knowledge, no skill, practically no time or effort-and outperforms about 80 percent of all investors.
  16. Adversity is an experience, not a final act.

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

The face of higher education is continuing to evolve. Ethnicity, the numbers of attendees in terms of age and sex, expectations, the manner in which information is delivered and virtually every aspect of the way you do business and education has been touched in some way by events over which you sometimes have no control.

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

Things such as world events, the economy, changing technology, competition from new sources, and the values of learners shift rapidly. The potential student population is also expected to grow in coming years as Generation Yers (Millennials – 1980s to early 2000s) are aging, since this is the largest generation behind the Boomers (1946-1964).

The one aspect of the whole process over which you and your organization do have control  — is the level and quality of service that you and your institution provide to your customers – your students.

To deal with this trend…

If you remember nothing else related to customer service, think about this. EVERYONE that you and your institution come into contact is either a customer or potential customer! If you can get your mind around that fact and treat students and their caregivers with the best quality of service possible; then, you have tremendous opportunity to compete effectively with all other institutions of higher learning and knowledge sources.

This action alone can lead to customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth publicity for you as an educator and your institution.

For information, ideas and strategies on how to deliver excellent customer service get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible – Jeff Bezos

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible – Jeff Bezos

Customers are a funny lot… they pay you money that they worked hard for and in exchange only expect to receive what they need, want, expect and are promised by you and your organization.  They truly do not expect that, when they contact you or someone else in your organization, they will encounter problems with the product and services received.

To help ensure that you meet their expectations, put yourself in their position and deliver the best possible customer service. Ensure that you have the knowledge, skills, and attitude that will provide you the tools necessary to effectively interact and communicate with them to determine what you need to do to satisfy them and help build customer and brand loyalty.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com summed this sentiment up in a quote:

“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.” Jeff Bezos

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible - Jeff Bezos

For ideas and strategies for delivering exceptional customer service to all potential and current customers get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures, and How to Be A Great Call Center Representative.

Here are a few more Jeff Bezos quotes to enjoy reading…

  1. “I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.”
  2. “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”
  3. “What’s dangerous is not to evolve.”
  4. “Part of company culture is path-dependent – it’s the lessons you learn along the way.” – Jeff Bezos
  5. “My own view is that every company requires a long-term view.”
  6. “We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.”
  7. “A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn’t last.”
  8. “The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.”
  9. “There’ll always be serendipity involved in the discovery.”
  10. “I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.” – Jeff Bezos
  11. “The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.”
  12. “Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”
  13. “If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.”
  14. “The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’”
  15. “We expect all our businesses to have a positive impact on our top and bottom lines. Profitability is very important to us or we wouldn’t be in this business.” – Jeff Bezos
  16. “The human brain is an incredible pattern-matching machine.”
  17. “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details…”
  18. “It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.”
  19. “Your margin is my opportunity.” – Jeff Bezos
  20. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
  21. “Work Hard, have fun, make history.”
  22. “You don’t want to negotiate the price of simple things you buy every day.”
  23. “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new.”
  24. “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
  25. “Maintain a firm grasp of the obvious at all times.” – Jeff Bezos
  26. “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos

About Robert C. Lucas, Your Customer Service Guru that is a big fan of Jeff Bezos

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills.

Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.

He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.

Building Successful Customer Loyalty

Building Successful Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is an emotional rather than a rational thing. Each time there is contact at a touchpoint where the customer and service provider come together there is the opportunity for further cementing the customer relationship and loyalty or driving a wedge between the customer and organization due to failure to meet expectations or needs.

With every contact, service providers should strive to demonstrate a commitment to exceed customer expectations and provide an experience that is beyond anything for which they might have hoped. Tied to commitment, loyalty is typically based on customer interest in maintaining a relationship with your organization or brand. Often, customer interest is created and maintained through one or more positive experiences that lead to a relationship.

Buidling Successful Customer Loyalty

An important point to keep in mind about customer loyalty is that it does not happen as a result of a single customer-provider encounter. Nor does it happen just because of periodic special promotions, sales or passive loyalty programs that provide only minimal rewards. Rather, true customer loyalty stems from an organization’s concerted, ongoing efforts that are part of their strategic goals to meet and exceed the expectations and needs of their customers.

For more information on customer loyalty and how to create and maintain a solid bond with your customers, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

Thanks for visiting our website!  If you need or want a copy of this content - please contact the author to request purchasing it. Thank you!